Asia's Criminal Economy: Damage from Scam Networks Reaches $114 Billion, with Cryptocurrencies Becoming Its Financial Backbone
The scale of organized fraud in East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand, has reached alarming proportions. Based on my estimates derived from analysis by relevant agencies, the total damage from scam operations in 2025 amounted to between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion. These are not just numbers — they are an indicator of a systemic crisis in regional security.
It is important to understand: these data are approximate estimates, taking into account both officially recorded losses and the presumed share of victims who do not report to authorities. Methodology inevitably varies from country to country, but the overall picture is disheartening. For comparison, in 2023, a similar figure was estimated at $18–37 billion. An approximately threefold increase in two years is not just a trend, but an explosive growth in criminal activity.
Among countries with the highest officially recorded losses for 2024–2025, China ($5.1 billion), the Republic of Korea ($3.5 billion), and Taiwan ($2.8 billion) lead. These figures are merely the tip of the iceberg, but they clearly indicate the most vulnerable jurisdictions.
Criminal Syndicates: From Fragmented Groups to a Cross-Border Network
What is happening can be characterized as a fundamental restructuring of the regional criminal economy. Previously fragmented syndicates have transformed into a single cross-border network with shared infrastructure. This network services not only fraud but also money laundering, human trafficking, illegal migrant smuggling, data collection, and other criminal services. The model essentially resembles corporate franchising: there is a "head office" providing specialized "departments" — for laundering, recruitment, logistics — all connected to a single network.
The scale and complexity of this criminal economy already outpace existing law enforcement responses. The key nodes of this network are the so-called scam centers: large isolated compounds where people are detained and forced to work in online fraud schemes, including investment and romance scams.
Cryptocurrencies as Settlement Infrastructure
In this context, cryptocurrencies play the role not just of a tool, but of a basic settlement infrastructure. Criminal groups systematically use digital assets, encrypted communications, AI, satellite communications, and underground data markets. Particular attention is drawn to the USDT-TRON blockchain pairing. In essence, it has created a parallel financial system for nearly instantaneous, cheap, and pseudonymous cross-border transfers. Through P2P platforms, over-the-counter brokers, and underground banking networks, criminals convert fiat into stablecoins and back, bypassing banking controls and freely moving funds between jurisdictions.
It is obvious that without effective tools for tracking and confiscating crypto assets, fighting this threat is futile. Simply disrupting operations will yield no results if the revenues of criminal networks remain beyond reach.
AI, Satellite Communications, and Global Recruitment
Criminals are actively adopting technologies: generative AI, deepfakes, encrypted messengers, and satellite internet (including Starlink) lower the technical barrier for sophisticated attacks and enable operations in remote areas. The use of legitimate advertising networks for spreading malware and phishing grew by 42% year-over-year in 2025.
The geography of recruitment is also expanding. People from at least 80 countries have been identified in the region's scam compounds. Advertisements allegedly linked to these centers require knowledge of German, Polish, Dutch, Spanish, French, and other European languages. This is a signal: the threat extends far beyond Asia.
My comment: The figure of $114 billion is merely the upper bound of the estimate. The actual damage, accounting for unrecorded losses and indirect costs, could be significantly higher. The key takeaway for investors and regulators: cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins, have become an integral part of modern organized crime. Combating this phenomenon requires not only blocking individual platforms but also creating a global system for monitoring and controlling the movement of digital assets. As long as criminals' revenues remain in cryptocurrency, they will find ways to launder them.